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Sunday, April 9, 2017

Where's Humanity?

I'm not really sure I should feel entertained by a woman forced to repeatedly experience the same fear and helplessness as the child she and her partner murdered. Each day, Victoria wakes up from a seemingly failed suicide attempt with no memory but a photo of her and a young girl, whom she assumes is her daughter. Victoria is then chased and attacked by increasingly violent and sadistic "hunters", while passive onlookers use their phones to record her plight from a safe distance. Once Victoria's punishment is revealed to her, the episode ends with Victoria returned to the house she woke up in, her memories being wiped while another group of onlookers are briefed on how they can participate in the perverse punishment theme park. Similarly, here the lady has been punished in a so-called 'Justice Park' for her crime but is that an ethical way? What about people getting entertainment on such acts? Where's humanity? What effect would it make in the criminal's mind and conscience? All these questions came to mind while watching this episode. White Bear digs up the darker side of the digital world we now live in. This episode questions the morality of the justice that is laid upon the criminal.With the rise of social media came happy slapping, where people would hurt someone while filming their reaction for social media. It takes the punishment to the next level because it turns her pain into a sort of theme park. It links to society's nature of appeal to violence. The people justify endorsing this production because they believe it is justice. I also think they are telling themselves that her pain is nothing but an act because it is performed every time. She isn't being punished for being a terrible person, she's been punished for the benefit of others sadism. Her memory is being wiped each time, she is essentially a different person every time she wakes up. Either you hold her responsible for what she did pre-mind-wipe and it's awful but fitting, or you don't and it's meaningless torment for the benefit of a sadistic mob. What they were doing at the park was wrong in numerous ways. Those people are as wrong for doing that to Victoria as much as she is for what she did to the little girl. White Bear throws us into a weird, disorienting world, establishes the rules for us as we go along, then pulls the rug out with 15 minutes to go with one of the most devastating and mind-boggling twists imaginable.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i agree with you, i feel as if it is not punishment it is being used as entertainment. Essentially, she is being punished for something she does not even remember she did. Which in my perspective it appears to be torture rather than punishment.

Anonymous said...

Ana,

I think you're correct. What Victoria did was wrong, however, what the public is doing to her is also incorrect. There is no justice or rehabilitating process, only torment and violence. It is certainly unethical. We must have limits when we are dealing with people, regardless of what they have done.